Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread

"This no-fuss recipe makes an amazingly soft and spongy pumpkin bread with a sweet swirl of cream cheese in the middle. Perfect for fall!"

When I first started this food blog in 2014, I finally made good on all the talk about “pumpkin flavored everything” with an absolute classic: cream cheese pumpkin bread.

I’ll admit I dragged my feet a little on taking the plunge, since The Husband wasn’t a fan of pumpkin. And, honestly, I wasn’t even sure how I felt about pumpkin. I thought I liked the taste of it, but I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I had it – which, sadly, means that whenever that was it obviously wasn’t that memorable (hard to believe, I know).

Somehow or another I had managed to get through 30+ years of life without ever paths with a pumpkin dessert, and yet every year I hear everyone raving about it. I guess that’s why it intrigued me, that little voice in my head nagging me to try it. I had to know what all the fuss was about.

Since this was a new recipe for me, I was going to play it safe and make something basic. I almost always do this because I think it’s the best way to learn, to build a solid foundation so you can work your way toward more advanced things. Gotta learn to walk before you can run, right?

But on that fateful day three years ago I woke up feeling adventurous. Like I wanted to push my limits a bit. Maybe take a few risks.

So I went totally crazy and not only made pumpkin bread, but cream cheese filled pumpkin bread. I know, I know, I was completely out of control. Someone should have hosed me down.

I even told the dogs that I was making my first pumpkin-flavored holiday treat.

As you can see, they were thrilled.

But seriously, this recipe? And all my musings about whether or not pumpkin is worth the hype?

I’m so completely glad I changed it with my budding baking skills.

In fact, I’ve made this pumpkin bread for the past three years. It’s just that good.

This recipe doesn’t call for yeast or require a fancy mixer – all you need is a bowl, a whisk, and a little elbow grease – so it’s easy to throw together. The cream cheese filling smelled like eggnog (so in other words, delicious) and it took all my willpower not to eat it right out of the bowl. And speaking of smells, every corner of my house was filled with the essence of fall while this bread baked.

As for how this bread turned out?

Once it had baked and cooled, it was so moist and spongy – which is everything you want in a freshly homemade bread. I remember being totally shocked that I actually made this. And it wasn’t hard at all!

Thanks to this bread, once I discovered what baking with pumpkin was like, I wanted to put pumpkin in everything. All year long. No shame.

Heck, I still want to put pumpkin in everything.

I’ve been trying to sell The Husband on pumpkin and steak, but so far, no luck.

notes & tips for this pumpkin bread

This recipe has changed for me over the years, primarily because I learned how to measure flour properly for baking. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it can make a huge difference! You can read more about how to measure flour (and other common ingredients) here: Measuring 101.

Over the years, I’ve slowly adapted this recipe to better suit my baking methods and tastes. If you’ve made this bread before and want to make the original version, you can find a similar recipe here.

Instructions

For the Cream Cheese Filling

In a large bowl, whisk together cream cheese, sugar, flour, and egg until smooth. Consistency should be thick; when you raise the whisk, none of the cream cheese mixture should easily drip off. If it does, add another 1 tablespoon of flour and mix well. Set bowl aside.

For the Pumpkin Bread

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the 9x5 bread loaf pan with baking spray, then set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until combined. Set bowl aside.

Pour the sifted dry ingredients in with the wet, using a spatula to gently toss and stir, being sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Mix until just combined and dry ingredients are no longer visible.

Putting it all Together

Pour 1/2 of the pumpkin batter into the prepared bread pan, pushing batter into corners and smoothing with a spatula.

Next, pour the cream cheese filling into the pan, smoothing out the filing with a spatula. Do not worry about pressing into corners.

Finally, pour the remaining pumpkin batter on top of the filling and gently pull & spread to cover the sides and corners, careful not to disturb the cream cheese layer beneath. Be sure pumpkin layer completely covers the cream cheese layer.

Bake bread for 50-65 minutes or until a tester toothpick comes out clean. To ensure bread is fully baked, check the bread in multiple spots

Let baked cream cheese pumpkin bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Slice pumpkin bread and serve immediately. Bread can stored on the counter for 1 week in an airtight container, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

If you make this recipe, be sure to hashtag it #HomemadeHooplah! I'd love to see what you cook!

Please keep in mind that I'm not a certified nutritionist; I am just a quirky girl who loves to eat. Any nutritional information discussed or disclosed in this post should only be seen as my best amateur estimates of the correct values. If nutritional information is important to you and your diet, please verify this recipe with your favorite nutrition calculator.

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About Chrisy

I'm a small-town girl living in a big city who wants to eat everything she sees on Pinterest. I also enjoy hanging out with my herd of small dogs, binge-watching Netflix, and playing online games. READ MORE

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